C25K — Week 9 Day 1

Program: 5 minute warmup walk, 30 minute run.

Well, this would probably have been more of a milestone if I hadn’t ruined it by going ahead and running 30 minutes about a week ago… But I did it again!

The difference this time is that it was not hard! After running 30 minutes during week 7, my legs ached and my lungs were burning. Today I actually enjoyed the run, my breathing was regular, nothing in particular ached (although I was generally tired at the end). I just ran, daydreaming, for half an hour… It was actually really, well, peaceful.

Run Stats: 3.16 miles, 9min 17 sec per mil

Heartrate Hotel

I have always been aware that I probably have quite an unhealthy heart, my resting heart rate for about as long as I can remember has been around 74bpm. For reference (from here):

What most consider healthy for a man is between 60 and 75 beats per minute and for women it should be between 60 and 80 beats per minute.

Although I was just inside the healthy zone, other studies have suggested that heart rates above 70bpm in men lead to increased risks for various diseases. Just out of interest I have measured my heart rate a few times over the past couple of days, and…

57

Turns out I’ve become healthy and dropped all the way to below average! I remember seeing a documentary a while ago about a bunch of sedentary people who all trained together for the Boston marathon. The documentary is available legally and for free online here and actually makes for an enjoyable watch in a ‘tearjerky inspiring sort of way’, and also shows a bit about the science of what is happening to our bodies as we become more fit. The one thing that really struck me at the time was that all of the participants started out extremely, extremely out of shape, but after just two months of running a few times a week they all began to register as ‘above average’ to ’superior’ in tests of endurance and cardiovascular function, even if they were still significantly overweight.

They never mention exactly what training the participants in the program did, but I’d wager quite a lot of money that it wasn’t very different at all from the c25k program in the initial weeks. All of the marathon training programs I’ve found online, as well as all of the research I’ve read suggest that running 3-4 times a week and gradually building endurance is the best way to train, and this is precisely what c25k does for us.

So, this means that… Those of us in the process of finishing c25k should have undergone huge gains in fitness, which is a nice feeling. In all truth I don’t really feel too much different throughout the day unless I’m actually in the process of running. I guess I just don’t push myself very hard in front of the computer! but it’s still nice to have my heart rate there to remind me that there have actually been large, significant changes occur inside of my body!!

Just to put this into perspective: In just one hour in front of the computer my heart now needs 900 less beats than it did just eight weeks ago to keep me alive.

C25K — Week 8 Day 3

Program: 5 min warmup walk, 28 minute run

This run was pretty unremarkable so there’s not so much to put in a post, instead I’ll talk about different things.

Today I decided to find out how quickly I could run one mile, and the answer is 8 minutes 43 seconds. Not so good, but then again not so bad either. I’m happy with where I am at the moment, and am sure that I’ll be able to improve this time over the coming weeks and months. My one mile run also served as a calibration run for my pedometer, which claimed that I had actually run 0.96 miles, so it was quite close to correct without even being calibrated correctly.

My running wardrobe is now fully stocked: one t-shirt, one long sleeved top (both made of whatever that stuff is that helps take moisture away from your body), two pairs of shorts and four pairs of running socks. As horribly shallow as it sounds I really do feel more confident running around now that I actually look a bit more like a runner and hopefully a bit less like a little tubby guy pretending to be a runner

C25K — Week 8 Day 2

Program: 5 min warmup walk, 28 minute run

Not a good run today. This is the first time I have ever really, really, really struggled with a c25k workout. Over the last five minutes I was within a hairbreadth of walking, but I just managed to keep stumbling along at an embarrassingly low pace, and felt like I was nearly dying. I didn’t actually walk, but I am not happy with my performance

I think this happened because I have had a terribly busy few days exercise-wise (my first swim in, well, as long as I remember, as well as long bike rides and a couple of ‘extra’ runs that I just did for fun) and social-wise (I went out and had a fair few too many beers the night before the run).

I really do need to listen to advice like “rest days are important for beginners”, I know I’m not doing myself any good by over-reaching like this, so today I’m going to write a note to myself:

Dear CMB,

You are not superman. Be sensible. Also don’t run hungover. Idiot.

Love, CMB

Oh well… Learning, right?

Wardrobe Wonder

So I have been thinking about this for a little while now but over the weekend plan on finally taking some action: I need some running clothes. There are three reasons I’m doing this now, firstly I have been having a bit of discomfort during running as I chafe a bit. AndrewE suggested in one of the comments that a running t-shirt would probably be more comfortable than the cotton t-shirts that I’m currently wearing. Secondly I’m aware that I am currently running in completely unsuitable clothes (slightly-below-knee length linen shorts, ten year old t-shirts, black cotton socks), and it would be, well, nice to actually look like a runner. Finally I read this post by Daisy over at IO Geek, where she discusses a rather inspiring sounding book called “No need for speed”, one of the quotes from the book is:

In fact, you should plan to invest a little in your early running wardrobe. In the long run [pun intended], it will be money well spent.”

And yeah, that seems reasonable, if I pick up some semi-decent running gear now it’ll probably do we well for a long time.

So what do I need? I reckon that a couple of t-shirts and a couple of pairs of shorts are enough. I already have a nice set of running shoes as recommended by the man in the running shop, and things like socks seem a bit gratuitous.

Run #1: 3 miles

I have decided that when I find a particularly pleasant run I’ll map it, and write brief directions here so that I can easily access them again in the future.

Length: 3.00 miles
Instructions: Start Hoge Rijndijk, end of Burggravenlaan. Run to Zijlsingel, follow until left turn onto Lage Rijndijk (becomes after a while Van der Valk Boumanweg). Keep canal to right until Leiderdorpbrug, cross, take immediate right back onto Hoge Rijndijk (~2.2 miles), and then after 0.5 miles, left onto Roomburgerweg. Run Roomburgerweg until time/distance is up.

C25K — Week 8 Day 1

Program: 5 min warmup walk, 28 minute run

After successfully running 5k on Saturday I didn’t want to drop all the way back to doing 25 minute runs, so I skipped week 7 of the program. I also didn’t feel ready to do regular 30 minute runs, so didn’t skip all the way to week 9. That leaves, yep, week 8. Again, it may not be the safest thing in the world to go skipping big chunks of a training program but if I feel any abnormal pains (i.e. outside of the usual burning lungs, aching legs and sweat-stinging eyes) then I’ll immediately stop…

The run today was fun. It still sounds strange to say that, but it’s true. It was fun. Somehow I’m enjoying it. Two things to take away:

1. Nipples. Ow. Note to self: Sticking plaster.

2. I finally found a hill near my house, it’s pretty much the first hill I’ve seen in this city (indeed in the city the largest hills are pretty much the bridges). The flat landscape here is both a blessing (my morning bike-commute is easy and pleasant) and a curse (a flat, windmill covered landscape can only remain interesting for so long!).

Designing a Running Program

Since one of my long-term goals is the rather ambitious sounding ‘run a marathon’ I need to start thinking about training properly. A number of people have recommended to me Hal Higdon’s marathon training programs, and one of them looks absolutely ideal. It’s the Novice Supreme Marathon Program, which takes 30 weeks to complete and the first week has runs of 1.5,3,1.5,3 miiles, which I am definitely capable of.

In order to get a feeling for how the run lengths on each day of the week (Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat are running days) evolve throughout the training scheme I drew a quick graph. I always prefer to see information graphically, and maybe this will be a useful for somebody else…

Going for 5k…

After yesterday’s run I was feeling full of energy this morning so decided just to do away with the last three weeks of c25k and go for a complete 5k run. Perhaps not the brightest idea, but I felt like I’d be able to do it, and it doesn’t hurt to push at boundaries every once in a while.

As per usual the first half mile or so was pretty terrible, then I managed to settle down. I decided to run into Polderpark Cronesteyn, which was as pleasant as ever, and for the first time ever I went down one of the paths through the middle of the allotments, there were birds flying around everywhere and it was really pretty.

The end of the run was awful and I think I may have pushed myself a bit too hard this time, my legs are aching pretty badly now, but I did manage to run 5k with a sub-10 minute pace! I guess this puts me in a good position to start Hal Higdon’s Novice supreme marathon training program (first week is runs of 1.5, 3, 1.5, 3 miles). I have a few weeks over the 30 he plans out before the local marathon, so I can stretch out any especially difficult bits.

You know… seven weeks ago I couldn’t run 60 seconds without puffing.

Three weeks ago running for five minutes nearly killed me

Today I just ran for 30 minutes, I wonder where I’ll be next month…

C25K — Week 6 Day 3

Program: 5min warmup walk, 25min run.

Absolutely tipping it down with rain today, which suits me just fine. After a painful first couple of minutes my legs seemed to realize what they were doing and the rest of the run was fine, no panting breath, and at the end I ran a couple of sections at maximum possible speed because I was not tired enough. Feels great.

More good news about my pace. I ran today for the first time with my Nike+ pedometer, and was pleased to find that in 25 minutes I covered 2.58 miles (9min 46sec per mile pace), so I’m well on target to manage 3 miles in 30 minutes!

I also checked the calibration of the pedometer against the Google maps route planner and it seems really close to accurate.